Selling a Christmas Breakfast Tradition

I received a phone call from my mother yesterday to review our Christmas day menu. She had just returned from our local Stop & Shop and exclaimed, “That place is in the Christmas spirit.” The store was decorated and marketing all the right things—sales on meat and fish, recipe ideas for veggie and potato sides and advertisements reminding shoppers to order their favorite pies. Everything consumers need to host an impressive dinner.

“I also stocked up on cinnamon buns for breakfast,” she said. Breakfast, right. We do need to eat something before dinner.

My family has a Christmas morning tradition. We dig into a plate of Pillsbury cinnamon buns while opening our presents. Actually, we devour them in front of the parade on Thanksgiving morning too. For as long as I can remember, this has been our favorite breakfast treat on holiday mornings. As kids this excited us more than dinner.

Breakfast has always been a time we shared together as a family. Growing up we spent weekend mornings at the kitchen table reading the paper and talking about our weeks; my dad would get up early and cook pancakes or waffles on Saturdays and scrambled eggs on Sundays. He even had his own marketing slogan: “Its a Pancake kinda day,” he would say as we stumbled out of our bedrooms to the smell of syrup.

We aren’t the only family with a holiday breakfast tradition. Christmas is often the first morning family members have seen each in a while and everyone wants to relive the memories of their childhood—or create new ones their young families will remember forever.

Retailers should wake up to the idea of unique holiday breakfast promotions. Consumers will be open to meal suggestions—maybe more so since it could be a tradition they are developing.

Remind consumers they are sharing more than a delicious dinner with their family but the entire day. While consumers are stocking up on potatoes and sweet potatoes for casseroles, remind them to grab a few extra for home fries. Cross-merchandise the ingredients for a quiche, along with a recipe, near the pie crusts, or promote your fresh bakery items, such as hot donuts or croissants, for those shoppers picking up last minute items that morning and would prefer not to have to cook.

Everyone wants to treat themselves and the ones they love at the holidays, whether its at dessert time or while everyone is still in their pajamas.

In my house this year, we are expanding on the cinnamon bun tradition. To satisfy our love for scrambled eggs and omelets—it turns out an egg sandwich is a staple in each of our mornings—I am making Frittata Cupcakes. Personal-sized frittatas with the fillings of your choice; who doesn’t love that?

Frittata Cupcakes with spinach, tomato and cheese; some are topped with bacon.